December Children's Books Update

Looking to buy a book for a child for Christmas? Check out what I've read in the last month to get my opinion on some choices!

Dinosaur vs Santa is my top pick for reading with little ones for this season. This book followed an adorable if slightly mischievous dinosaur kid as he prepared for Christmas. I had a lot of fun reading this story out loud with its dinosaur sound effects as he made presents, decorated the tree, and more. The illustrations are simple but engaging.

• Enrichment idea: discuss Dinosaur vs Halloween (or another holiday). What activities would he need to successfully conquer for this holiday? Draw some of your own pictures.

Wombat Walkabout was another fun read although it did have me nervous about the fate of the wombats until nearly the end! What I loved about this book was its integration of words used in Australia. There was a glossary at the front of the book, but I actually missed it until I had read the story. However, the story and illustrations were clear enough that I could figure out what the words meant. The glossary at the front gave additional information that really enhanced the book.

• Enrichment idea: Choose one or two of the Australian terms. Create two-four questions about those terms and then do some research to discover the answers.

The Hidden Alphabet is a beautifully designed book that focuses on one letter per page but each page is actually a folded flap. The flap has the name of an item that begins with that letter ranging from arrowhead to zipper. There is also a cutout in the flap that shows a picture of that item. When you lift the flap up, the picture expands to reveal the whole letter.

• Enrichment idea: Choose a letter of the alphabet and pick a different word that begins with that letter. Draw that word as part of the letter just like in the book.

Penguin Problems (which apparently is also available in a Spanish version!) had some fun parts to it. I had never thought about all the potential problems a poor little penguin could have. However, the long speech given by the walrus seemed a bit much and kept this book from going to the top of the list.

• Enrichment idea: Choose another animal and discuss some problems that animal specifically would encounter OR ask the child if he or she experiences the penguin's problems (go through each one individually).

Big Bad Wolf is Good was my least favorite of the children's books I've read recently. I like the idea of the Big Bad Wolf being a good character instead of a bad one, but the story just did not click with me.